In mid May I'm headed to France for twelve days. What was originally designed in my mind (and communicated to my SO) was a week-plus of seeing the Loire valley on bike. Eventually, lots of our friends got invited who while great (one is a sommelier who works for an importer) are less bike-interested.
But yesterday I got the green light to blow off a lot of them for my conceived bike tour. (Well, at least at the beginning and end of our trip between the private showings we have scheduled.) The question now of course is the bike. While I've got too many I don't have one that is easy to ship to and from, and esp. deal with the logistics of trains etc. And the one best suited for the ride is one so close to my heart I'm frightened to put it on a plane. For the flights alone taking a full-size bike would be $300 plus whatever packing/materials/case costs me.
Digging around I found out I get a promotion from work which
drastically (think 1K off) reduces the price of Raleigh bikes, including their Ritchey-based breakaway bike, the Grand Prix:
https://www.raleighusa.com/grand-prix-2208 . It's not the perfect touring bike by any means. But for fast and lightweight touring it seems it could be made to work. I'm thinking: Tubus Tara low-rider racker (with the fork adapters), the front-rider Ortlieb panniers which have been underused the last few years, and my Carradice Nelson long-flap on a Bagman rack.
So -- before I do something rash, what am I overlooking. (Except that I wish it was a Shimano build instead of Campy.)
France tour will be a total of about 8-9 days on a bike, 50-80mi days. Staying in AirBnBs / Warmshowers etc (i.e. no camping).
This fall I also have a 5-day tour of New England scoped which (slightly) helps justify the purchase of a rig which should evade airline fees for bikes.